DISTRICT COURT JUDGE WHO USED RACIST LANGUAGE HAS BEEN TAKEN OFF CASES, COURT SAYS

King County District Court Judge Susan Mahoney will not appear in court or hold supervisory positions following her use of racist slur on an online call with court employees earlier this year, the court’s presiding judge has announced.

“I want to assure court users, court staff, and the public that the Court has taken the necessary steps to resolve this matter appropriately,” Chief Presiding Judge Matthew York said in a statement released Thursday, April 21. “Judge Mahoney will not have any supervisory role with staff and will not appear in court until this matter is settled.”

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Sadé Smith, a Seattle lawyer who focuses especially on representing People of Color and whose firm’s Dismantle project works pro bono on behalf of Black Lives Matter and other equity protesters, told the Emerald that the court’s expression of regret over a single judge’s use of the N-word overlooks the court’s fundamental role in structural racism that does “much more harm than the word.”

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King County’s population is about 7% Black, according to a county audit released last year, while more than 36% of people in King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention facilities are Black. An April 2021 report from the King County Auditor’s Office also found “significant racial disparities in housing and discipline that harm Black people and benefit White [sic] people, on average.”

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Let’s address how to make this better and whole,” Smith said, “instead of centering [Mahoney’s] feelings, which is what happens with white people constantly. It’s really exhausting for Black people, you know, for us to constantly have to hear about people’s reasons why they do horrible things.”

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The other person who spoke anonymously said that they overheard Mahoney make an inappropriate comment at least one other time, when the judge allegedly referred to a Black employee as loving watermelon. That source said they later filed a complaint about the comment.

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https://southseattleemerald.com/2022/05/10/district-court-judge-who-used-racist-language-has-been-taken-off-cases-court-says/